My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com

My 8 year old son gets all the credit for this DIY. Last month he was super in to those loom bracelets. One day I had a bunch of rubber bands sitting out and he started linking them together like you would if you were making a bracelet. Duh. That would make for a super cute and super easy loom inspired rubber band garland.

And because this is inspired by a super hot fad in kidland, you could probably even talk your kids in to making these for you. Genius.

Don’t you love this garland?! My pal Carmen, of The Flair Exchange, just launched the Cross + Plus Garlands in her fab shop! I’m in love. I’ve been toying with the idea of hosting super simple giveaways over on my Facebook page. No jumping through hoops. Just leaving a comment. Simple as that. Carmen graciously offered to give away one of her newest garland creations. So one of you can be the lucky winner!

This little guy was pretty excited when I told him that we got to put the garland up in his room.

I’ve seen some kid’s rooms on Pinterest where they have garlands jauntily placed around the room and I loved how it looked. But I wasn’t that in to any of the garlands. Carmen told me she had a new product coming out that she thought I would love. She was totally right! And I knew instantly this would be worthy of hanging on the walls.

The shape is so simple and graphic and I adore that she did it in black! It went with the art already hanging in his room perfectly.

But of course this will also be perfect for parties. I am sure that I will take it out of the bedroom so it can be a special guest star for upcoming party decor. And this might sound really silly, but the string that she uses (the crosses are made out of a nice, thick cardstock) is fantastic! It is thick and sturdy and is the perfect proportion for the size of the crosses. I’m somewhat of a string connoisseur (nerd alert) and I noticed it the moment I pulled the garland out of the package.

I bet you are already starting to think about all the different places you can hang this, aren’t you.

April is a busy month for birthdays in my family. I try to make my party decor but sometimes you just have to outsource. I flipped out over this black and white pennant banner at Target. I mean, it sort of the coolest ever. I will be reusing this one for sure!

I freaking love those pre-made banners they sell in the stores. You know, the ones with mostly primary colors and they say the generic terms like, “happy birthday” or “happy anniversary” and are held together with brads? Urban Outfitters sometimes carries them that have profanity in them too, but my kids don’t know what all those words are yet and I’m not going to teach them on a special ocassion. For years I have been making my own custom banners, using the same simple idea and brads. I have no idea why I haven’t shared them before. But you simply have to start making these for anything and everything. My oldest son requested a Minecraft party this year. I didn’t want to have a real party. I billed it more as a playdate and invited just a few school friends over. That being said, he still expected some decorating. Turns out Party City doesn’t sell Minecraft stuff. 2 days before the party is not the time you want to be finding this out. So I decided to make my own DIY Minecraft Birthday Banner.

I found Quality Kids Crafts around my youngest son’s 2nd birthday. I made one of these brad banners that said “Miles is Awesome. And 2.” To make it easy, this site has a few ready made sayings that you can just print out and cut. But they also have each letter of the alphabet and numbers too. Which is perfect for making your own signs. I’m not going to lie. These take some time. Especially if you are crazy like I am and want to add your own patterns to the letters. But if you are just printing and cutting, they really don’t take all that long. Most of my crafts can be done while watching Naked and Afraid (my new favorite show) or another show of your choosing.

Do your kids always want to help you when you are in DIY crunch time leading up to a party? Mine do. And while I love that they want to spend time with me and be part of it, it sometimes slows me down. So I came up with the idea to have them make these super easy straw garlands. You can pretty much find straws in every color so it will easily coordinate with the rest of the party decor. And these are super inexpensive to make. Another plus. As for how many you will end up, well, that is totally dependent on their attention span. I’m not saying these have to be the focal point of the party, but you won’t need to hide it somewhere either.

These straw and knot garlands are also a great way to put up some last-minute decor for a teacher’s birthday, kid’s birthday or a holiday where you want to add something to make your house more festive.

I found a bag of sommarfints at Ikea. Does anyone else think their word for straw is super crazy? I do. And are you also now going to only refer to straws as sommarfints? I am. This bag of straws probably cost around a dollar. And I still have a bunch left. I love using different kinds of ropes in crafts and this one is a cloth laundry rope I think. But you could easily use yarn or some other kind of string you have on hand. And then you just need scissors. Super simple stuff.

Have the kid decide what length they want the straws to be and have them start cutting. When cutting the straws, the unheld end will fly thus leaving the room riddled with straw parts. This will make the kids laugh like crazy. Just know you will most likely have to gather the pieces off the floor before you string them.

Have the kids string on the straw parts one at a time. And they can choose to add the knots wherever they want. It is a great way to talk about patterns and symmetry, etc. Once they figure out where they want it, you can show them how to knot the rope.

No need in making super difficult macrame type knots. A simple knot is all you need. Tip: If you hold the rope where you want the knot to be and then pull the free end with your other hand you can guide where the finished knot sits. Reading that back, it makes no sense so play around with it, but you can get the knot to sit where you want it. And there we go, I’ve increased the difficulty of this tutorial on tying simple knots by trying to be helpful. Never ask me for driving directions anywhere…

After you tie the knot, add more straws. Repeat for the desired length of the garland.

Super easy. Super colorful. Super kid friendly.

Hang them wherever you feel a knot garland should go.

And did you see my straw heart tutorial? These won’t be right for everyone’s party decor needs but it is another craft you can have your kids do to keep them busy. And who doesn’t love hearts?

YOU GUYS!! I have found the coolest balloons ever!! We all know how rad the large mylar letter balloons are, but awhile ago I did some searching to see what I could find in the way of smaller letter balloons. I found some and used them at Lauren’s bridal shower. But they had to be heat sealed.

Then as I was researching using those balloons for a mini mylar balloon word garland I came across these babies! They are 16 inch mylar balloons (they come in gold, silver, blue and pink) but you blow them up and close with an “easy” seal. They are totally reusable too! Genius!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I’m excited?!

I’m obsessed. These will make another appearance at my son’s upcoming birthday party. And probably every other party I throw for the rest of my life.

The balloons come with tabs already punched with holes for easy stringing.

Do you love them?! Best. Balloons. Ever. Buy them from Balloons Fast (they have numbers too!). I’ve ordered a few times now and they really do get them to you fast!

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My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com